37 things to be thankful for

Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day.

That has been one of my life mantras for years now. And, in honor of having been 37 for a whole three days now, here's a list of those somethings good I've found:

1. My 6 day vacation from work started today. I love my job and I'm a little scared the plants are going to die without me there, and that no one will stream show tunes from their computer very loudly to cheer the place up, but, yeah...I'm pretty excited to work on some other stuff that's not work.

2. Clean sheet night. With blackberry linen spray. And freshly shaved legs.

3. The smell of lavender, sage, and rosemary on my hands from a night of working in my yard.

4. The sound of Chet Baker's voice singing about 11 pm when I'm still not sleepy and the whole house is quiet and clean, usually.

5. Red chili-spiced pistachios enrobed in dark chocolate.

6. That dance I do with my mop. The one that makes the broom jealous.

7. Friends who can discuss Russian and French existentialist literature with me.

8. That chalky sea blue color of old maps and globes.

9. The way my kids still wear mismatched socks. And sometimes even put their pants on backwards without even realizing it.

10. Close proximity, or the promise of.

11. Local music.

12. That warm, glow-y feeling I get when I can feel God telling me, "Good job, girl."

13. Conversations had in 15 second intervals via Facetime stalling and unstalling. Especially when bad British accents are involved.

14. Having my mom's grave so near my house where I can make sure it's taken care of and sometimes just go to hang out and have a chat with her.

15. The occasional pedicure.

16. Red wing blackbirds trilling.

17. The view from the top of my favorite hiking hill.

18. My iphone. Seriously. Instagram, iTunes, Siri telling me where I can hide a dead body. I don't know how I ever lived without this piece of Star Trek-like equipment.

19. Top Gear on Netflix. And the metallic growl of a luxury sportscar engine in stereo.

20. Making mustache cookies. With help.

21. My personal box of Hello Kitty! bandaids that none of the boys want to use. Ever.

22. Sugar lip tint from Sephora. Their birthday freebie to me.

23. The fact that my cat is usually on my roof. Makes me feel very French.

24. My radio show and all the amazing writers I've had the privilege to meet as a result.

25. The fact that my older boys have inherited my sense of humor. And I think the younger ones will have it, too, once they get beyond all the fart jokes.

26. Hymns at church. Lead Kindly Light, especially.

27. The callous from the lawnmower on my left hand. And the bruise from boxing on my right. And all my nails worn down. They all say, 'These are hard working hands.'

28. Whole Foods being built just down the street from my office.

29. The smell of almond extract.

30. Thrift store scores. Like the vintage copper beaded, fringe-bottomed flapper dress I found and talked down to $30.

31. Friends getting their books published left and right and winning all kinds of awards. I can't clap hard enough.

32. Stars. Gobs of them. And summer nights warm enough to lay out on the trampoline and look at them.

33. Stuff that comes in the mail. Non bill stuff.

34. The way the light comes in through the slats of my blinds in the morning, all soft and filtered through the leaves of the big Curly Willow tree.

35. Talks with Mom Peterson and with my sister-in-law. Grateful they still love me and claim me.

36. Faith. And more faith. That eventually become sure knowledge.

37. This blog. And the 704 posts of recorded life, therapy, and lessons learned it has provided. And of  course the friendships I've forged through it. Thank you. And you. And you.

It is enough. My heart is full.